Volume 1 - CH 1.4

Part 4

Nightfall approached, and fireflies illuminated the theme park.

A total of 288 guests visited Moffle’s Sweet House today. Out of those 288, only 3 took a photograph with Moffle, including that punk Kanie Seiya. Considering it was a Sunday, that was an incredibly low number.

The theme park used to have countless guests in the past coming especially to visit Moffle’s Sweet House. Moffle recalled the children whom he played with and all of their cheerful smiles, along with their laughter, shouting, and joy.

Those were all things of the past now, he thought. “Mofu…”

He turned the power off and tidied up the place.

They did not have enough resources to hire a maintenance crew. As such, Moffle had to do everything by himself. The disinfection, the laser gun, the replacement of batteries, the reparation of damaged puppets, and the final lock-up of the place were now all part of his duties.

“See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

After wrapping things up, Moffle bid farewell to the part-timer and left through the staff exit.

They didn’t even strike up a conversation with each other. Of course, he must have thought that Moffle was just helping out as a temporary suit actor due to the shortage of manpower. It couldn’t be helped. After all, just how would he be able to convince the others that he was actually a fairy from the realm of magic?

Moffle headed for the guardhouse and returned the ‘Moffle’s Sweet House’ key. After that, he signed off on the logbook and tapped his attendance card.

“How was today’s turnout, Moffle-san?” the old security guard, who knew about his true identity, inquired in a polite manner.

“It was pretty normal. Just had a small argument with a stuck up kid, fumo.”

“Must’ve been pretty tough, huh? Go teach that boy a lesson, you hear me?”

“Don’t worry about it, fumo.”

If it were any other day, Moffle would have joined the other mascots for a drink in their favorite yakitori bar, but he had matters to settle today.

“Something on today?” the security guard asked while conducting his regular bag checks.

“Yeah.”

One could not guarantee that the theme park’s employees wouldn’t smuggle any valuables for sale outside. As such, while a hassle, conducting spot checks on their employees’ belongings became a custom for many organizations.

“I’m meeting the manager for a bit, fumo.”

“Latifa-san, eh? Send my regards for me, would you?”

“Sure.”

That security guard was one of Latifa’s fans, Moffle recalled. In fact, there were many of them working here. One could say this was the only reason why Amaburi was able to meet the minimum staff count.

However, Moffle wasn’t one of her fans.

While it was true that he loved her more than anyone else, that was only because she was his niece. And likewise, Latifa did not harbor any romantic interest towards him.

After ascending the elevator, Moffle arrived at the sky garden, and Latifa came dashing towards him.

“Uncle!”

How many times have I told her not to run?

They embraced each other.

She must have lost some weight, considering how light she’s become. I really should teach that punk a lesson.

“So how was he?”

“I met him earlier, but since he passed out during the magic-bestowing ritual, I had Isuzu send him back to his place.”

“I see, fumo.”

Moffle felt a dull prick in his heart.

So she kissed him, after all.

The princess of Maple Land has the ability to give magical powers to any man she chooses—

—by kissing him.

It was believed that the type of magic bestowed depended on the individual’s needs. For example, fighting powers might be given to troublemakers, and a sickly person might acquire healing abilities. But ultimately, it was all up to the Goddess Libra.

“He came to my Sweet House and picked a fight with me just now. He was pretty weak, and I really don’t think he’s capable, fumo.”

“Come on now, you did read the report written by Isuzu-san, didn’t you?”

“Of course, fumo.”

An excerpt from the end of the report written by an elite from the Maple Land Imperial Regiment read:

…It is as such that I conclude that the aforementioned Kanie Seiya possesses two very contrasting, yet useful, talents.

For one, he is a strategist who is able to make calm and rational decisions.

On the other hand, he has the passionate mindset of an entertainer, having possessed experience and knowledge in the trade.

Handling such antinomies must have been a real hassle, and I can imagine them being a source of his distress.

In my opinion, he is precisely who we should entrust our lives to in order to save Amagi Brilliant Park from its impending demise.

First Royal Guard of the Maple Land Imperial Regiment, Isuzuruha Centollusia

Moffle was not particularly pleased with Sento Isuzu’s thoughts on this. She might believe that Seiya was the Oracle’s “chosen one”, fated to be the savior of the park, but it was easier said than done. Just how was that kid going to save a whole theme park in such a short amount of time?

“I understand that Isuzu highly regards Seiya, but I have my doubts, fumo. I do not think that this downturn could be solved by hiring a mere high schooler.”

There ought to be a reason for everything that happens, be it personal struggles or societal behavior. It didn’t matter to Moffle whether Seiya was a genius or not; a single person could only do so much.

“So you’re saying we should just sit here and do nothing, uncle?”

A brief silence ensued.

“…Of course not, fumo.”

“There has to be a reason why our guests aren’t coming; something that we’ve missed. That’s why we need Seiya-sama, who is also a guest, to provide us with another perspective.”

“I understand, fumo…”

And as he said that, Moffle made a brief calculation. Seiya had a mere two weeks to attract 100,000 guests, which in turn meant that he had to get…7,000 visitors per day on average.

Impossible.

Including Moffle’s Sweet House, the combined visitor count among all attractions didn’t even exceed 3,000. And that was their Sunday crowd. They’d tried everything, but to no avail. And if they couldn’t reach their quota by then, they would have the rights to the park revoked and transferred to them. The park would close and the entire place would be demolished. Then, they would build a golf course with the freed-up land. In other words, the cast of Amaburi would cease to be.

And then, Latifa would…

“Anyway, what are you going to do with Seiya?”

“For the time being, I told Isuzu to stay over at his place for the night. That way, she can help him if something happens.”

“…That’s worrisome. Seiya’s at that age and Isuzu’s too kind for her own good. If anything were to happen, that’d be—”

“That’d be…?”

Moffle cleared his throat, nearly choking on his own breath.

“Latifa…you don’t understand! All men are wolves! Just wait ‘til they go into beast mode!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t get it. What do you mean by ‘beast mode’?”

Moffle instantly regretted having said anything, and avoided the question.

“Well I guess there’s not much to worry about after all. Even if he manages an all-out Lupin dive[1] on Isuzu, he’d probably just get shot by her magical musket Steinberger.”

“I’m really sorry but…what’s a Lupin dive?”

There was a brief, awkward silence.

“Latifa, you’ll understand when you grow up, fumo… No wait…”

Realizing that he’d made a reprehensible remark, Moffle sighed, “Sorry…I didn’t mean it that way.”

His heart sank, for he knew that growing up was not possible for Latifa.

“It’s okay, one day; I will. I’m confident that Kanie-sama will be able to do something about this.”

That’s just not possible, Moffle thought. Of course, unless a miracle occurs. Sadly, miracles are only called miracles because they never do.